I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, Capital One and other banks are advertising partners of this site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available -- instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same).

My single favorite card for earning valuable rewards points has just gotten better with an offer of 50,000 points as a signup bonus. And it comes with an additional 5000 bonus points after you add the first authorized user to your account and make a purchase in the first 3 months from account opening.

There was a brief targeted test of 50,000 points with a higher annual fee two years ago. For the most part we haven’t seen an offer like this for the card since March 2012.

I’ve been a fan of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card as an important tool for frequent flyers for a long time because:

It earns one of the most valuable points currencies, which transfer to a variety of airlines (including in all 3 major airline alliances) and hotels.

It earns points quickly, with double points on both travel and dining (what travelers tend to spend on most).

I’ve seen reports that Chase has only wants to approve this card for new customers that haven’t applied for 5 new cards in the past two years. The advice then is to prioritize getting a Chase Sapphire Preferred Cardbefore you apply for other cards.

Here are my 10 favorite things about Sapphire Preferred.

50,000 Point Signup Bonus

At 50,000 bonus points after $4000 in spending within 3 months, it has a very rich signup bonus. Get that bonus now, we haven’t seen a broadly available 50,000 point offer for this card in almost four years. And this one even lets you earn 5000 more points for adding an authorized user and making a purchase in the first 3 months from account opening.

Since the first year fee is $0 and then $95 thereafter, too, this is best broadly available offer we’ve ever seen for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card in over 4 1/2 years.

Double Points on All Travel and Dining

That’s what most of my spend is, especially reimbursable spend — not just air and not just hotels, but both and cars and taxis and tolls, plus meals on the road.

No foreign transaction fees

So I don’t mind using the card outside the United States, and especially for paying hotel bills and eating out during my travels since the card also offers double points on travel and dining. When I’m outside the country nearly all of my expenses are travel and dining.

Ultimate Rewards Mall

Additional points for your online shopping through access to the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall, a mileage-earning shopping portal that often has the most lucrative opportunities to earn extra points for the online purchases you’d make anyway.

Primary Rental Collision Coverage

If you rent a car with this card you don’t just earn double points (for travel) but get extra protection. Most premium cards offer secondary collision coverage, they pay what your insurance doesn’t (which usually means they cover your deductible). With Sapphire Preferred’s primary coverage, rental a qualifying vehicle and charge it to the card and your insurance company may not even need to know…

The Card Has a Great Look and Feel

This isn’t a reason to get a card but it’s a sleek card, heavier than what you’re used to and without any raised numbers (and in fact, no numbers on the front of the card). Lucky called it “the poor man’s Centurion card.”

United gets you Star Alliance availability to Europe and Asia and no fuel surcharges. British Airways gets you cheap short-distance non-stop awards.

You get access to Skyteam award space through Korean Air which has some very favorable awards — like some of the cheapest awards to Hawaii and 80,000 mile business class roundtrips to Europe (plus fuel surcharges).

And transfers to Singapore are exceptionally useful because using Singapore Airlines miles you get much better availability redeeming for Singapore business and first class flights than what’s offered to their partner airline members.

Transfers to Several Hotel Chains

Hyatt is the best value, but points transfer to Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, and IHG Rewards Club..

The card is a Visa, while many other valuable cards are American Express, and that means you can use it pretty much everywhere (soon even Costco).

Past cardmembers are welcome back

If you’ve had the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card before and don’t any longer, you’re eligible to apply again and still receive a bonus provided it’s been 24 months since you last received the bonus.

If you do not currently have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, consider getting it — with 50,000 points as a signup bonus and a $0 annual fee the first year ($95 thereafter), there hasn’t been as good a time to do so in a very long time.

More From View from the Wing

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of any advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

Pingbacks

Comments

“If you do not currently have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card……”
AND haven’t had it for a few years AND you have NOT applied for more than 5 CCs in the last two years …….
Don’t waste a hard pull if you don’t qualify.

“There was a brief targeted test of 50,000 points with a higher annual fee two years ago. But otherwise we haven’t seen an offer like this for the card since March 2012.”

Hmmm…sure about that? I applied and was approved for a 50,000 point CSP w/$95 annual fee back in February 2014. Can’t remember where I signed up for it, but it was my first CC so I’m pretty sure I wasn’t savvy enough to hunt down some special link on Flyertalk or anything like that. And I’m certain I wasn’t targeted.

Gary, agree with the first two commenters that you should think about updating the post to notify newer readers about Chase’s restrictions on personal UR cards if you have had more than 5 new cards in the last 24 months. Pointing to the flyertalk wiki would be an easy way to do that.

Had a realization on the plane today and signed up for this – very timely.

My top of wallet card is SPG Amex, and I put a lot of spend on it through Costco purchases. Given the SPG acquisition, that card is going to quickly fall out of favor, and I can’t use it at Costco in a year or so anyways. This is my new primary card, and the SPG Amex will get used the same way as my Hilton Amex – only when I stay at that chain.

Just as a data point – just got denied via Gary’s link. I knew about the 5/24 but decided to take a chance for various reasons – have a co-brand card close to expiring and wanted to try and time a closing it with the 50k offer window overlap. Called my banker first and he said (no surprise) he’s not aware of the 5/24 policy. So I thought maybe due to holiday season chase would be more liberal with the approval bc they want me to spend over the next few weeks. Apparently not.

Was a good calculated risk given the variables mentioned but if you don’t want to waste a pull as others have said – don’t bother. My current acct history says July 2017 is soonest I can apply for a new Chase card – not sure if that will ever occur given AmEx and Citi are continually upping their games. Will take some massive – and possibly not warranted – discipline. We’ll see. But just a FYI for others who are debating applying …

@JL100 How solid is that info about the Marriott card not being under the umbrella of the 5/24 rule+. I am shut out on regular Chase cards for sure due to that but I’d like to get in under one or even 2 3rd Party cards like that one.

Anyone else know more about this, I’d like to know as i do not want to have any more hard pulls that do not result in positive results, at least for a while!

I was approved and received the card only 10 days ago, with the 40k bonus offer. I wrote to them last night regarding the new 50k bonus and they agreed that I would be eligible when I meet the spend criteria.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.

Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

View from the Wing is a project of Miles and Points Consulting, LLC. This site is for entertainment purpose only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

Advertiser Disclosure: Many (but not all) of the credit card offers on the site are from banks from which we receive compensation if you are approved. Compensation does not impact the placement of cards in content. Banner advertising, in contrast, is paid for by advertisers (we do not directly control the banner advertising on this blog).

I don't include all US credit card offers available on this site. Instead, I write primarily about cards which earn airline miles, hotel points, and some cash back (or have points that can be converted into the same).

Editorial Note: The opinions, analyses, and evaluations here are mine and not provided by any bank including (but not limited to) American Express, Chase, Citibank, US Bank, Barclays or any other company. They have not reviewed, approved or endorsed what I have to say.

Comments made in response to posts are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of any advertiser to ensure that questions are answered.